I want to get started creating videos and slide shows with my music to upload to Youtube. I've sort of reviewed the free versions of nch VideoPad and the VSDC. Both seam to be suitable enough from what I can tell. But, I'd rather not get started learning a certain GUI, hit limitations or restriction, and then have to learn another. However, I won't mind learning, say, two, if they compliment each other such as Band In A Box and Reaper do for audio. Thanks for your recommendations.

I recently went through a similar odyssey, actually, still going through it. I settled on NCH Video Pad, installedc the trial and then bought it. On the way, I made a mistake of buying one product, based strictly on name, and lived to regret it. It wouldn't install and they kept my money., after dancing around the moon. The NCH results have been good, but there is a learning curve, as any visit to the online tutorials soon reveals. The good news is that results show promise -- just a little different way of working. NCH has picked up on some of the old Final Cut features, which is good to know. Still, I won't buy any video editor that does not offer free trial, if there are any of them. I am waiting on the coders of Reaper. If you are familiar with SONY Acid and Movie Studio, you'll recognize many similarities in Reaper. I don't know why people did not embrace SONY audio and video. They were great products, but never seemed to catch on. Anyway, Reaper is making noises about a video editor in the works. If and when I'm there.I will add, don't overlook the free Movie that comes with Windows. It is quite capable, esp for You Tubers.

Lightworks free?; it looks as if it's a version of Adobe Premiere. The main issue i (personally) have as with the latest Premiere too, is that you pay for a subscription period. I bought a Premiere license on ebay for the older CS6 version, more than adequate for me, and it was around 90 U$D, about the same for a years' Lightworks subscription fee. Price was probably lot less than originally. Drawback is that there will be no updates alas. I tried out several others, but i still like Premiere a lot. Some pro video editors use it too. - F

I have a friend who works in video editing and he mentioned DaVinci Resolve, Lightworks, and Media 100 as good programs for beginners. They are free, too. I have never worked in any video editing software myself, so I'd absolutely suggest looking into these first!

Did you know... Within Band-in-a-Box®, choose Help | About Band-in-a-Box, and you'll see more than just information on the program - you'll also see a complete list of Team PG - we're currently at 35 team members!

Band-in-a-Box® 7 included some great new features - like Automatic Soloing! This introduced program users to the powerful Soloist capabilities of Band-in-a-Box®, which also includes the Soloist Maker.

Automatic Soloing!
Pick any song or chords in any style, and choose a "soloist." Band-in-a-Box® then creates and plays a professional quality solo in the style of your choice. Previous versions of Band-in-a-Box created great accompaniment. Now you can hear sensational solos as well - showing you exactly what notes are played. Choose from "soloists" in the style similar to great Jazz musicians such as Django Reinhardt, John Coltrane, or Country/Pop soloists and others, or create your own soloists using the "Soloist Maker."

Soloist Maker
This module allows you to define your own soloists. For example, let's say you want to create a soloist in a style similar to the style of "John Coltrane" - the great Jazz saxophonist. The Soloist Maker allows you to define the parameters essential to Coltrane's playing, such as instrument range (i.e. tenor saxophone), extra legato playing, playing more on top of the beat than typical Jazz musicians, and playing straighter 8th notes than usual Swing 8th notes. Also, you can set phrasing options, such as how long the phrase should be and how much "space" to leave between phrases. You can also set how "outside" the playing should be. In the case of a John Coltrane style - you set that to the maximum! Then "turn him loose" and hear the soloist play over any song!

Open your MIDI file in PowerTracks Pro Audio (or RealBand), and you'll see the instruments separated onto their own track - an excellent way to hear all the instruments individually for that song, and a great way to learn!

There's no trick to it either - just use the File | Open dialog, locate the MIDI file, and click [Open].

With Band-in-a-Box® 2018 for Windows, the Audio Edit Window GUI has been updated to include a dedicated settings button and a Marker Mode button. Plus, editing features can now be applied to the entire track (if no specific region is highlighted).

We've also added the following items to the Edit button within the Audio Edit Window:

Paste (Mix) - This will mix the audio from the clipboard with the existing audio instead of overwriting it. You will be given the option to set the percentage of the existing audio to keep and the pasted audio to mix in.Paste (Insert) - This will insert the audio from the clipboard to the current location, instead of overwriting the existing audio. The audio to the right of the insertion point will be shifted to make room for the new audio.Delete - This will delete the selected region of audio.Insert Silence - This will insert silence at the cursor. The duration of the silence inserted will be equal to the duration of the selected region.Convert Channels - If the audio is stereo, this will convert it to mono. If it’s mono, this will convert it to stereo. You will be given the option to set the percentage of the left and right channels to include.Harmonize - This will launch the Audio Harmony dialog, which can be used to harmonize the selected region of audio.Transcribe - This will transcribe the audio to the Melody or Soloist track.Fix Tuning - This will automatically correct the tuning of the selected region according to the key of your song. For example, in the key of C, if a C# is detected then it will be transposed down to C or up to D depending on which one is closer.